


The Tower of Hanoi

by levisjeans



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Monks, Priests, SNK AU, Shiganshina District, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-07-12 20:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7120963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/levisjeans/pseuds/levisjeans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Come in and see, if you dare...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

In 850 AD, Shinganshina suffered from Titan attacks. The Titans were humanoid creatures, several meters tall, which fed on humans, though they lacked digestive systems. Their origin was unknown, no creator attributed, and no reproductive options present. This led the people of Shiganshina to believe that Titans themselves were inherently evil, evil spirits possessing these grotesque humanoid forms. And so, a monastery called Hanoi, devoted to the preservation of human civilization by worship to the goddesses Maria, Rose, and Sina, was formed in the higher hills of Shiganshina. Through worship, the monks at Hanoi sought to protect their settlements from Titan attacks. All those born of monk bloodlines were trained as monks from childhood, and therein a young priest was born of such a bloodline.  
It was at this time that humanity discovered a puzzle- a mathematical remnant of past human civilization, from a time free of Titans. Humans were separated into vast territories, languages separate, governmental systems varied, and humans overlooked their freedom. Shiganshina, the last human settlement, now found itself under a monarchy, united under one, rough language, and prisoners within the very walls that kept them safe. The seas and volcanoes and lands of ice became nothing more than fairy tales in ancient tomes, and the education of which forgone in favor of battle strategies and soldier training. 

It is lost to the record how the monks came upon the Tower of Hanoi, but it is was widely believed that it was created at the beginning of the world, and upon its completion would signal the end of the world and all its creatures. The puzzle itself was simple: Three pegs, which the monks devoted to each of the three goddesses, and sixty-four disks of varying sizes. The objective of the puzzle was to stack all of the disks, from largest to smallest, from the first peg, Maria, to the last, Sina. It followed three rules:

1\. Only one disk can be moved at a time.  
2\. A disk can only be moved if it is the uppermost of the stack.  
3\. No disk may be placed on top of a smaller disk. 

The monks of Hanoi organized the solving of the puzzle as a prediction for the end of days. One chosen monk would sit at the pegs day and night, shifting each of the sixty-four rings with calculated movements. They never stopped, only a brief intermission twice a day by an intermediate to relieve themselves and bathe roughly, and were brought meals, though they continued their work with one hand. This went on until the end of their lives, upon which a new monk was chosen from those having recently completed training. And so it went on. 

The young priest just so happened to find himself chosen in 850 AD. He was well known for his beauty, eyes a deep green the color of the emeralds of royals, tanned skin the result of childhood antics in the fields, and chocolate brown hair. His father, Grisha, was chosen before him. He became a ward of Hanoi following the death of his mother in a sudden titan attack, destroying his home. His father had been borne the news while still shifting rings, taking it in silent contemplation. In the night following, he confided in a close friend to continue the rings for a short time, and committed suicide by dagger. And thus, the priest became an orphan in the span of two days. Despite his ethereal beauty as he grew older, those around him avoided him for his bloodstained past. Not only that, but soon after he was announced as the chosen priest for the Tower's next cycle. He had only two companions, a girl and a boy his same age, though their names are lost in time. 

The records describe the ceremony in great detail. He was slathered in various perfumes and oils- lavender, saffron, frankincense- draped in silks and flower garlands, hair adorned with one braid according to custom, and paraded through the streets of Shiganshina until they reached Hanoi around dusk. At that time, he kneeled on the same patch of earth as his forefathers and took upon the heavy burden of mankind's destruction, left alone for the night save the Captain of the Survey Corps, Shiganshina's branch of forayers outside the walls. 

It was a fate worse than death.


	2. Chapter 2

_Great, it's Jean today_

He spotted the horsefaced bastard as he was trudging up the path to the temple, holding up his robes with one hand so as not to trip on the stairs, and precariously balancing his tray of food in his other. It was around noon, he guessed, usually when he was first relieved for a brief intermission, his other being late at night, so he could rest for some time. Other than that, this patch of earth was his. He was confined to it by duty (and also the threat of death). 

The best days were when Mikasa or Armin was sent to relieve him. They had stayed close friends even after he had been chosen, his only friends. Five years had passed since then, chosen for a fate worse than death at only ten years old. As the years had passed, more friends seemed to trickle in, perhaps out of pity- Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, Krista, Ymir, Connie, Sasha, Marco, and...Jean. Most would tip their heads in acknowledgement as they went about the temple- even Jean wasn't a complete asshole. He was...touchy, to say the least. 

As he'd grown, his hands had become calloused from the work. In the beginning, he had to pay attention- but now, having figured out the recurring pattern, his hands kept busy as his mind floated elsewhere. He'd grown into a muscular teenager, strangely enough. When he was relieved at night for several hours to rest, he often found himself unable to, and sped through the forest. It was exhilarating, to feel cool air bite his cheeks and feel his robes flapping in the wind. It was everything he couldn't have- to be free.   
His skin remained a brilliant gold, from sitting in the sun. His hair had lightened from exposure as well, gold strands nestled in beside his chocolate hair. When his mother was still alive, she used to tell him it was because the goddesses had touched his head to comfort him, after every scraped knee and black eye from tussles with other boys. 

He loved her dearly.

He missed her more than anything. His father had been a coward, but he saw why he did what he did. The amount of pain that blossomed in his chest daily at remembering that he was alone in this world, and chained to the earth on which he sat by those afraid of monsters, too afraid to face the unknown world outside the walls, and thus hypocritically turning to sacrificing their own to an unseen power, was a load too heavy to bear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't finished this chapter yet, just got bored in the middle


	3. Chapter 3

I remember the first time Humanity's strongest sat with me.  
It was the day of the ceremony, just after the temple monks had deposited me on my patch of dirt. After the rush of celebratory dances, the wine, the brilliant colors of silks and parades and heavy smoke of incense- I felt as though I'd been dropped out of the sky. Still clothed in my sacred robes, here I was, bent in the dirt, staring at the rest of my life. The three pegs- one for each goddess of the walls- and the rings. That was it.

The full terror of my situation swooped down and settled on my shoulders then. I was going to sit here until I died. How is that fair?! Since when had this forsaken puzzle proven to be remedial to our situation with the titans? The attacks continued, people continued to die, and yet they still clung to this shitty little puzzle. Protect us? As if. 

If anything, we needed soldiers, not sacrifices. I should be out beyond the walls, killing titans and finding answers that would ACTUALLY allow humanity to stop living in constant terror. Terror had driven us to do irreconcilable things, abandoning all reason. I had dreamed, ever since I was little, to be a soldier in the Survey Corps. I always watched their weary parades as they returned from missions, I always wanted to fight alongside Humanity's Strongest. I thought I would be able to protect my friends, my family- 

but I couldn't.

Soft footsteps interrupted my thoughts. I turned to see who approached me, and there he was- Corporal Levi Ackerman of the Survey Corps- Humanity's Strongest himself. I remembered h is appearance from when I was younger, it looked as though he had not changed one bit since then. Although, he looked much shorter in person than he did on his horse. But he moved so carefully, and so quietly, it was easy to tell he had command of his body. Nothing like me, with my uncoordinated lanky limbs. A true soldier. 

He caught my eyes as he settled against the trunk of a tree a few feet behind me and to my right. He took his blades out and plunged them into the ground for comfort, and the gleaming blades caught the moonlight and I wondered how much strength it took to lift one, much less plunge it into a titan's nape. His eyes remained settled on me, and in embarrassment I turned to my task. He didn't say a single word the entire night- not one.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how many chapters this going to be but oh my, do I have plans for this...


End file.
